Why community building is better than simple social marketing

Rich Ullman, senior vice president of marketing with social media company Ripple6 sees social marketing as a way to create relationships between brands and consumers.

"There are so many different ways to get into social - there are profile pages, customer service options, contact information," said Ullman. The problem he sees with social campaigns is that big businesses are simply trying to advertise to the consumers there.

"What's happened is that [display advertising] has driven down the value [of campaigns] because there is such a glut of inventory and ads," he said.

Ullman sees too many brands treating social marketing like display ads, counting clicks rather than collaborating with the consumer. To get a different response, Ullman suggests treating social platforms differently and offering consumers more than a daily deal or coupon.

"What we've found is that there are clicks, campaigns, collaboration and integration. When you look at all of the people on the island of social media, it is one island of people who are gathering to share information," said Ullman. "These tend to be consumers or smaller businesses. There are also 'other' residents and these are usually bigger brands. They look at social as another component of an overall campaign. [Marketers need] the longer brand value response. They should be looking for consumers who want to add value over the long haul rather than to buy only one product."

Tags: community, integrated marketing, Ripple6, social campaigns, social marketing, social profiles